Summary: At the end of "The Gift" Dawn jumps instead of Buffy. She lands in a Galaxy Far Far Away approximately 4000 years before the Battle of Yavin.
A/U: Set after BTVS Season 5 and during the first Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic Game
Pairings: Laid possibilities, mind you I said possibilities of Buffy/Dawn based off canon conversation from the Gift. That is by no means final though and any pairing likely won't be seen till I start chronicling SWTOR portion of this series.
Disclaimer: I do not own Buffy, Star Wars, Knights of the Old Republic, Knights of the Old Republic 2: The Sith Lords or The Old Republic MMO. Joss Whedon owns Buffy. LucasArts, which is now owned by Disney, owns Star Wars, Knights of the Old Republic and Knights of the Old Republic 2 and The Old Republic MMO. KOTOR 1 was and the Old Republic MMO is developed by Bioware. KOTOR 2 was developed by Obsidian.
Prologue
Tears flowed down Dawn's face as she screamed in pain. The demon in front of her was grinning at her as he slowly sliced into her arms and stomach just below the ribs. "Shallow cuts, shallow cuts... let the blood flow free..." he said.
"Dawn," said Buffy as she finally reached the top of the tower.
"Buffy..." Dawn said as she smiled at her sister despite the pain.
Buffy strode toward the demon as he turned to face he, he hurled the knife he had just used to cut Dawn and she batted it out of the way.
"Well, this should be interest-" he said as Buffy walked right up to him and batted him aside as easily as she had the knife. She listened to him scream and eventually hit the ground with a wet crunch as she untied her sister.
"Buffy, it hurts..." Dawn said as she grimaced.
"I got you..." Buffy said. "You're gonna be okay..."
"Oh, God, Buffy..." Dawn said as blood seeped down her leg, pooling on her foot and finally dripping down into the air where a crackling ball of energy, white with power at the very center, has snapped into existence.
Buffy started dragging her sister down the platform. "Come on!" she said as she felt Dawn resist.
Dawn looked down at the ball of energy as the platform rumbled and shook. She looked back at Buffy. "I can't," she said.
"What?" asked Buffy. "We have to get down!"
"Buffy, it's started," said Dawn as the portal below them shot out a lightning-like tentacle of energy which hit an intersection of the street below, which crumbled away into a fiery abyss. Another bolt hit a nearby building transforming it into alien looking structure. "I'm sorry ..."
"It doesn't matter. Nothing-" Buffy said. She felt Dawn pull out of her grip she turned just as Dawn was about to run back toward the end of the platform. She grabbed her sister's arm and spun Dawn back toward her. "What are you doing?"
"I can end this," said Dawn with determination.
"No!" shouted Buffy, she wasn't about to let her sister die.
"I have to jump. The energy-" said Dawn argued.
"It'll kill you!" said Buffy.
Dawn shook her head, she wasn't sure how she knew, but she knew that she would not die that she had to go where the portal took her. "No it won't."
Buffy looked at Dawn confused. "Yes it will," she said. "Giles said the only way it will stop is when the blood flows no more, when you're dead."
Dawn smiled as she brushed a strand of hair from her sister's face. "Giles was right and wrong," she stated. "There is another way for it to stop. I don't know how, Buffy. But I know I have to enter that portal. I have to go where it takes me."
"No!" said Buffy as fought the tears that threatened to come.
"I have to! Look at what's happening!" said Dawn as a rift opened and a huge dragon flew out of it and past them. "Buffy—"
"I don't care!" said Buffy as the tears began to fall down her face. "Dawn, I won't lose you-"
Dawn smiled and wiped the tears from her sister's face, "You won't. I promise I will come back."
Everything went very quiet for Buffy as she turned to look at the end of the platform. She knew without actually knowing that Dawn was right that she had to go. How she knew, she wasn't sure but she knew all the same. "Then promise me that you will be brave. That you will live, for me?"
Dawn smiled. "I promise and I will see you again," she said as she kissed her sister's cheek.
Buffy nodded watched as Dawn ran and jumped from the end of the tower. Dawn fell into the portal and with a flash of white light was gone. A moment later the portal contracted in on itself and disappeared. She wiped a tear from her face and smiled sadly. "Bye, Dawn."
"You will see her again."
Buffy spun to see Whistler. "You," she said, her voice laced with venom.
"I did not do it, nor the Powers," Whistler stated.
"Then who?" Buffy asked.
"More by what," Whistler explained. "You call it magic. Others in other dimensions call it by another name. The name it is called, in the dimension that Dawn has traversed to, is the Force. Dawn as you know was made from you, but she is not a clone. The monks to create her had to do so with help. Dawn is a child of the Force. She is a Chosen One, amongst Chosen Ones."
"A Chosen One?" Buffy asked with a frown. "You mean she's a …"
"Slayer?" Whistler asked. "No, she is something more. And when she has completed what the Force wants her to do, she and you will need to find a way for her to come home."
0 – 0 – On the Endar Spire – 0 – 0
Sarryn Baill awoke as he felt the room lurch beneath him. For a moment he looked around confused unsure of where he was. As he slowly got off the bed the only door in the room opened and a man came into the room.
"We've been ambushed by a Sith battle fleet! The Endar Spire is under attack!" The newcomer said. "Hurry up – we don't have much time!"
"Who are you?" Sarryn asked.
"Trask Ulgo, Republic Fleet ensign. I'm your bunkmate," he replied. "We work opposite shifts; I guess that's why you haven't seen me before. Now hurry up, we have to find Bastilla! We have to make sure she makes it off this ship alive!"
Sarryn looked at at Trask with confusion. "Who's Bastilla?"
"Bastilla's the commanding officer of the Endar Spire. Well, not an officer really. But she's the one in charge of this mission." Trask replied. "One of our primary goals on this mission is to guarantee her survival in the event of an enemy attack! You swore an oath just like everyone else on this mission. Not it's time to make good on that oath.
"I've heard all about your reputation..." Trask continued. "Elite combat training, tops in your class. It's no wonder you were picked for this mission. Word is the officers have never seen a recruit with your kind of potential in twenty years. But all that potential doesn't mean a thing if you can't deliver when it counts. We're soldiers, we're trained for combat. Bastilla's going to need men and women like us at her side during this attack."
"Okay, let's go help Bastilla," said Sarryn.
Trask smiled. "So hurry up and grab your gear," he ordered. "You need to suit up so we can get out of here. Then we need to stop by the medbay. There is a civilian there who we should get to the escape pods."
0 – 0 – On Earth – 0 – 0
Buffy came down from the tower and faced Giles, Anya, Willow, Tara, Xander and Spike who could see she held tears in her eyes.
"Dawn?" Giles asked already knowing the answer.
"Gone," said Buffy as she looked up towards the platform her sister had jumped off of.
"Dead?" Giles wondered as he looked around the area searching for Dawn's body.
Buffy smiled. "No."
"If she's not dead and she's not here?" Willow asked in confusion.
"Where ever she is she is okay I know that," said Buffy as she remembered what Whistler said. "And I know when she is done she will try and come back and we need to try and find her."
"We will find her, Buffy," said Xander as Willow, Tara, Giles and even Anya and Spike all nodded in agreement.
0 – 0 – On the Endar Spire – 0 – 0
Sarryn and Trask made their way to the medbay to find a young brunette woman that lay on one of the beds. Trask injected her with some drug and she slowly regained consciousness.
The brunette looked at Trask and then Sarryn, "Where am I? Who are you two?"
"Trask Ulgo, Republic Fleet ensign," said Trask. "And this is Sarryn Baill also a Republic Fleet ensign. And you're on the Republic ship Endar Spire."
The brunette nodded as she sat up on the bed. "Republic?" she inquired wondering what naval ship she had landed in on Earth.
Trask frowned. "Republic is the galactic government that governs the planets in the Republic," he said. The brunette realized she was no longer on Earth at the singular mention of galactic government. "How can you not know this?"
The brunette shrugged as she decided to play the amnesia card. She wasn't sure if they would believe her anyways if she told them the truth. "I don't remember much of anything to tell the truth," she said. "I think one of your doctor's said I had amnesia. About the only thing I remember is my name which is Dawn Summers."
"Ah my apologies then," said Trask. "I was not aware of your condition. Here..." He handed her some clothes. "Put these on."
Dawn got out of the bed and took the clothes from Trask. "Okay, where can I go and change?" she asked as Trask motioned towards a privacy screen. She turned and walked behind the screen and promptly put on the offered clothes. They didn't exactly fit and looked bulky on her. At least though she was now dressed in something other than a hospital gown. When she came back around Trask held out a sword and a blaster.
"Your choice, you may need one before the day is over," said Trask.
Dawn knew how much Buffy hated guns. But she wasn't even sure of where she was or what kind of bad guys were waiting in the wings. She decided to err on the side of caution. "Can I have both?" she asked as Trask nodded and handed both weapons to her. She strapped the sword and scabbard across her back and the blaster and holster to her hip.
"Now we should hurry up and go," said Trask. "We have to make our way to the bridge to help a member of our crew. Then we will try and get you to an escape pod. The ship is currently under attack from the Sith."
"Sith?" asked Dawn.
Trask sighed. "They are enemies of the Republic," he said as they left the medbay. Suddenly a voice came over the ship's intercom.
"This is Carth Onasi – the Sith are threatening to overrun our position! We can't hold out long against their firepower! All hands to the bridge!"
Trask shook his head. "That was Carth Onasi, he's one of the Republic's best pilots!" he said. "He's seen more combat than the rest of the Endar Spire's crew put together. If he says things are bad, you better believe it. We have to get to the bridge to help defend Bastilla!"
Sarryn nodded. "Okay let's go."
Dawn looked at Sarryn and decided to follow his and Trask's lead at least till she could get more information on what was going on and even more importantly why she was there. She followed behind the men down the corridor and to a closed door where Trask inputted his security code into the keypad. She watched as the door opened to find two people in similar uniforms as that of Trask and Sarryn. She took them to be more Republic officers, then she noticed they were fighting two more people in silver colored armor and her mind quickly filed in the blanks that these were likely Sith troops. She watched helplessly as the Sith killed the two Republic officers.
"These Sith must be the advanced boarding party!" Trask said. Dawn was about to ask what they should do when he ran out into the corridor in front of the Sith, "For the Republic!"
Dawn dove down next to the doorway as she pulled out the blaster from its holster. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed Sarryn charg at a Sith with a sword. She cursed Sarryn as she was forced to change targets to keep from hitting him. Between her and Trask they managed to kill one of the Sith while Sarryn cut down the other one.
"I've got a feeling that won't be our last battle with the Sith," Trask said.
Dawn rolled her eyes. "Yeah well," she said as she watched as Trask and Sarryn knelt down to search the bodies of the Sith. "I know they're the bad guys and all. But isn't looting corpses kind of tacky?"
Trask looked at Dawn. "They have no use for the equipment anymore."
Dawn was taken aback by his answer. "Was that the way this dimension worked," she wondered. "To the victors went the spoils of war?" She followed them down the corridor and came upon another firefight with the Republic soldiers outnumbered by Sith troops. She was shocked when she watched one of the Sith throw a grenade not only killing two Republic soldiers in one blast but also one his own comrades as well.
Sarryn took off again sword in hand and Dawn knelt down at the bend of the corridor firing the blaster at one of the other Sith. No sooner than they had killed three of the Sith troops than two more showed up. Between Sarryn's blade and Trask and Dawn's blasters they were able to dispatch the troops.
They then turned and headed for the bridge yet again. At the next intersection they encountered two people dressed in robes fighting each other with what looked to be some kind of laser sword, she would learn later the laser sword was called a lightsaber.
"It's a Dark Jedi! This fight is too much for us-we better stayed back. All we'd do is get in the way," Trask said.
Dawn watched as the two people fought. "What's a Dark Jedi?"
Trask looked at her and sighed. He knew because of the 'amnesia' that she would have many more questions. Still he was getting tired of them. "A Dark Jedi is a Jedi that has fallen to the Dark Side. Jedi are warriors, defenders of the peace. They have access to what is called the Force. Don't ask me what the Force is because I have no way of explaining that to you."
Dawn nodded as she watched the Jedi and Dark Jedi, she thought the duel looked sort of like a dance. She looked to the one that Trask pointed out to be a Dark Jedi, she could tell he just radiated evil. The dance didn't last long as the Dark Jedi was cut down by his opponent. At that same moment an explosion caught the Jedi killing her as well.
"That was one of the Jedi accompanying Bastilla," said Trask.."Damn, we could have used her help."
Dawn wondered for a moment if these Jedi were anything like Buffy back home. She didn't have long to muse as two Sith showed up to check out the corpse of the Jedi and Dark Jedi. They spotted Trask, Dawn, and Sarryn down the corridor and opened fire and they took them down with no problem.
Finally they reached the door to the bridge. "Dawn you and I should equip swords as the fighting will be close in there, much to close for blasters."
Dawn nodded as she holstered the blaster and unsheathed the sword strapped to her back. "Gotcha," she said as Trask opened the door and they made their way onto the bridge fighting through the Sith that were there. Once they had secured the bridge, Trask and Sarryn once again made a search of the bodies.
"Bastila's not here on the bridge-they must have retreated to the escape pods," said Trask.
"A likely conclusion," agreed Sarryn.
"We better head that way too," said Trask. "The Sith want Bastila alive, but once she's off the ship there's nothing stopping them from blasting the Endar Spire into galactic dust!"
"Then we should make haste to get off the ship," said Dawn.
In the next room they passed through they heard a sound coming from one of the other two doors leading from the room. Trask ran over to the door in question and listened closely. "There's something behind here," he said.
"Get away from the door, Trask," said Dawn. "We will face whatever it is together." As soon as she spoke the door opened and a Dark Jedi ignited his lightsaber.
"Damn—another Dark Jedi!" Trask said. "I'll try to hold him off, you two get to the escape pods! Go!" He ran at the Dark Jedi as the door closed behind him.
Dawn ran to the door and tried to get it open with no success.
"Come on, Dawn. We don't want his sacrifice to have been in vain." Sarryn said with grief in his voice.
Dawn nodded as she fought back the tears for a man she had just met. "You're right," she said as she turned and followed Sarryn on towards the escape pods. She wondered if Buffy felt like this anytime she lost someone.
As they made their way through the corridors they heard Carth once again over the ships intercom.
"This is Carth Onasi. I'm tracking your position through the Endar Spire's life support system. Bastila's escape pod is away—you two are the last surviving crew members of the Endar Spire! I can't wait for you two much longer; you have to get to the escape pods."
Sarryn pulled out his communicator and spoke into it. "We're on our way there now."
0 – 0 – On Earth – 0 – 0
Buffy paced in the living room of her home as she watched Willow, who sat cross legged on the floor in front of her.
"The Coven in Devon doesn't know how to get to her," said Giles as he walked into the living room from the kitchen. "Portals are not their thing."
"I'm not going to leave her there Giles," said Buffy. "She's my sister after all."
"I know Buffy," said Giles as he remembered the speech Buffy had given him and the others before they had went to face Glory. He thought back to that speech and how Buffy had said, 'She's me. The Monks made her out of me. I hold her and I feel closer to her than... It's more than just the memories they built, it's physical, it's... Dawn is a part of me. The only part that I...' He had to wonder what Buffy had not said, had Buffy realized something. Then his eyes widened as a crazy thought came to him, surely that was not it. Could Buffy have fallen in love with Dawn?
"But you need to be prepared for the possibility she is gone forever," he said with a sigh. He did not want to tell Buffy that, but he also did not want to get her hopes up either that Dawn may return.
"Actually maybe not," said Willow as she stood up and turned towards her best friend and smiled. "I think I know what I have to do. Dawn was created from you, right? That's what you said in the Magic Box before we left to face Glory."
"Yeah," Buffy said as she thought back on the speech she had given them when Giles had mentioned the only way to close the portal was for Dawn to be dead. For a moment she thought on what she had actually said or rather had not said.
"Then it should be possible to open a portal to her using your blood," Willow suggested.
"Are you sure you can do it Willow?" asked Giles. "It would take massive amounts of magic to create a portal between this dimension and the next."
Willow nodded. "Yeah, I'm sure."
"Then we open the portal I go and get her and you bring us back," said Buffy.
"I can't," Willow said as Giles and Buffy looked at her in confusion. She tried to explain. "Here's the thing. Dawn told you she had to go there right?" Buffy nodded. "So she has something she has to do. If I send you then how am I going to know when to bring you both back?"
Buffy sighed. "So you and I both go?"
"Again can't, at least not yet. More people I send or take with me the more magic it will take to keep the portal open," Willow said. "Eventually I might be able to do it. But right now there is only one person that can go and that's me. I can get there and when she is ready to come back I can use her blood to open the portal and bring both of us home."
Buffy nodded. "Okay," she said. "Then you be careful. We don't know what's waiting for you on the other side of that portal."
"Buffy you can't be serious, sending Willow alone into an unknown situation," said Giles.
"I don't like it Giles," replied Buffy. "But Willow is the only one who can go. She just said so herself. And if she is the only way Dawn is coming home then she has to go."
Giles sighed and nodded in resignation. "Very well."
0 – 0 – On the Endar Spire – 0 – 0
Dawn and Sarryn finally reached the escape pods.
"You both made it just in time! There's only one active escape pod left. Come on, we can hide out on the planet below!" Carth said as he moved toward the last escape pod. "Ladies first."
Dawn smiled and nodded. "Okay," she said as she got into the escape pod followed by Sarryn and Carth and it ejected a moment later.